Jersey City resident Migdalia Ubinas is pictured here with her 1-year-old daughter Jarely Garcia, as she searched for winter wear recently at the United Way of Hudson County thrift shop in Secaucus. Photo credit: Adriana Fernandez.

Five Jersey City small businesses – Cocoa Bakery, Kanibal Home, Nightingale Projects, WorryWoo creator Andi Green, and Grove Street Bikes – are banding together in one location on Sunday, Dec. 16 for what they are calling a “Take Back the Holidays” shopping event. The fun begins at 10 a.m. with book readings by Andi Green at 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 2 p.m. The event takes place at Grove Street Bikes at 365 Grove St.

From artisanal cakes, handmade home decor, to classic bikes, and a WorryWoo Monsters book signing, this event hopes to get the Jersey City community back on its feet to enjoy a holiday shopping experience perfect for all ages.

Festivities include door prize raffles, free bike safety checks, a reading and signing of “The Very Frustrated Monster,” the latest WorryWoo book by Andi Green. Cocoa Bakery and Kanibal Home, in collaboration with Nightingale Projects, will each set up a pop-up shop at Grove Street Bikes and sell a selection of items from their product lines.

The goal is to come together and bring back the holiday spirit that was somewhat taken by Sandy’s fury.

Fulop sponsors annual toy drive

City Councilman Steven Fulop has launched his annual toy drive and is asking residents to donate new, unwrapped toys this weekend. Toys are being collected on Saturday, Dec. 15 and Sunday, Dec. 16 from noon to 4 p.m. at Fulop’s downtown office, at 353 2nd St., at the corner of Newark Avenue.

Fulop has partnered with Good News Bible Mission, in the Marion neighborhood, to distribute the toys to needy families.

CarePoint Health Foundation donates $5,000 in goods and services to Hope House

CarePoint Health Foundation, a non-profit organization, will be making a donation of home goods and gifts to the families residing at Hope House. The donation of items, worth a total of $5,000, will be presented to the families on Wednesday, Dec. 19 at 3 p.m. Bayonne Medical Center, Christ Hospital, and Hoboken University Medical Center have contributed equally to this donation to demonstrate their ongoing commitment to the communities in which they serve.

Hope House, located at 246 Second St. in Jersey City, is an emergency shelter for women and their children. It helps families become self-sufficient by giving them an opportunity for decision making and for assuming responsibility for improving their situation under the supervision, support, and guidance of shelter staff. The program offers short-term (45 days) supervised residence, assessment/planning, case management, housing, education, food, and clothing.

The overall mission of the CarePoint Health Foundation is to generate charitable dollars to serve the underinsured members of our community through outreach programs related to health, wellness, prevention and education.

Soxcess Sock Drive returns to Jersey City

For the second year in a row, Hudson County Prep senior Jeremy Garriga has launched his Soxcess Sock Drive, an initiative he launched last year to collect socks for the city’s homeless.

This year, residents are being asked to donate new winter socks through Saturday, Dec. 29.

Six drop off locations have been set up at the following sites: City Hall, 280 Grove St.; the Mary McLeod Bethune Life Center, 140 Martin Luther King Dr.; Journal Square Plaza, 1 Journal Square; the Jersey City Free Public Library’s Main Branch, 472 Jersey Ave.; the Five Corners Library, 678 Newark Ave.; and the Miller Branch Library, 489 Bergen Ave.

Last year Garriga was able to collect 900 socks through his Soxcess effort.

Donated socks will be distributed to the city’s homeless on January 30, 2013 during the annual Point in Time Homeless Census.

Homeless Memorial service

On Friday, Dec. 21, the longest night of the year, Garden State Episcopal Community Development Corp. will participate in the annual National Homeless Memorial Day. Each year on the longest night of the year groups around the country gather to remember homeless people who died on America’s streets.

The Garden State Episcopal Community’s interfaith memorial will take place at 1 p.m. at the Church of the Incarnation, 68 Storms Ave. Every one is invited to attend and share remembrances.

Throughout this day volunteers are also invited to help make sandwiches and put together bagged gifts for the homeless from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

To volunteer or for more information, call (201) 209-9301 or e-mail volunteer@gsecdc.org.

Lafayette groups collecting coats

Lafayette Democrats and the Morris Canal Area Community Development Corp. are collecting new and gently used winter clothing for needy families through Saturday, Dec. 29.

Donors can drop off new or lightly used winter coats, hats, gloves, mittens, and scarves at the Morris Canal Area Community Development Corp. office at 360 Communipaw Ave. week days from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Items collected will be distributed to families in the Bergen-Lafayette neighborhood.

Liberty Humane receives $2,500 grant

The Liberty Humane Society has received a $2,500 disaster grant from the Petfinder Foundation to help with expenses incurred during Hurricane Sandy.

According to a prepared statement from Toni Morgan, Petfinder’s program manager, “The Petfinder Foundation Disaster Fund was created to assist Petfinder.com adoption partners in just such emergency situations as this. We are grateful to help.”

Since 2003 the foundation has provided over $20 million in grants to animal welfare organizations and Petfinder.com member shelters and rescue groups.